The Eph receptor tyrosine kinases regulate a variety of physiological and pathological processes not only during development but also in adult organs, and therefore they represent a promising class of drug targets. The EphA4 receptor plays important roles in the inhibition of the regeneration of injured axons, synaptic plasticity, platelet aggregation, and likely in certain types of cancer. Here we report the first crystal structure of the EphA4 ligand-binding domain, which adopts the same jellyroll ␤-sandwich architecture as shown previously for EphB2 and EphB4. The similarity with EphB receptors is high in the core ␤-stranded regions, whereas large variations exist in the loops, particularly the D-E and J-K loops, which form the high affinity ephrin binding channel. We also used isothermal titration calorimetry, NMR spectroscopy, and computational docking to characterize the binding to EphA4 of two small molecules, 4-and 5-(2,5 dimethyl-pyrrol-1-yl)-2-hydroxybenzoic acid which antagonize ephrin-induced effects in EphA4-expressing cells. The erythropoietin-producing hepatocellular (Eph) 3 carcinoma receptors constitute the largest family of receptor tyrosine kinases, with 16 individual receptors throughout the animal kingdom, which are activated by nine ephrins (1-6). Eph receptors and their ligands are both anchored onto the plasma membrane and are subdivided into two subclasses (A and B) based on their sequence conservation and binding preferences. Usually, EphA receptors (EphA1-A10) interact with glycosylphosphatidylinositol-anchored ephrin-A ligands (ephrin-A1-A6), whereas EphB receptors (EphB1-B6) interact with transmembrane ephrin-B ligands (ephrin-B1-B3) that have a short cytoplasmic portion carrying both Src homology domain 2 and PDZ domain-binding motifs (7,8).The Eph receptors have a modular structure, consisting of a unique N-terminal ephrin-binding domain followed by a cysteine-rich linker and two fibronectin type III repeats in the extracellular region. The intracellular region is composed of a conserved tyrosine kinase domain, a C-terminal sterile ␣-domain, and a PDZ-binding motif. The N-terminal 180-residue globular domain of the Eph receptors has been shown to be sufficient for high affinity ephrin binding (9 -11). EphA subclass receptors remarkably differ from EphB receptors because they lack a 4-residue insert in the H-I loop of the ligand-binding domain. Previously, the structures of the EphB2 and EphB4 ligand-binding domains have been determined in both the free state and in complex with ephrins or peptide antagonists (10,11,(12)(13)(14)(15). These studies have shown that the ligand-binding domains of EphB2 and EphB4 adopt the same jellyroll ␤-sandwich architecture composed of 11 antiparallel ␤-strands connected by loops of various lengths. In particular, the D-E and * This work was supported by National Medical Research Council of Singapore Grant R-154-000-382-213 (to J. S.). The costs of publication of this article were defrayed in part by the payment of page charges. This article must the...

The erythropoietin-producing hepatocellular (Eph) family of receptor tyrosine kinases regulates a multitude of physiological and pathological processes. Despite the numerous possible research and therapeutic applications of agents capable of modulating Eph receptor function, no small molecule inhibitors targeting the extracellular domain of these receptors have been identified. We have performed a high throughput screen to search for small molecules that inhibit ligand binding to the extracellular domain of the EphA4 receptor. This yielded a 2,5-dimethylpyrrolyl benzoic acid derivative able to inhibit the interaction of EphA4 with a peptide ligand as well as the natural ephrin ligands. Evaluation of a series of analogs identified an isomer with similar inhibitory properties and other less potent compounds. The two isomeric compounds act as competitive inhibitors, suggesting that they target the high affinity ligandbinding pocket of EphA4 and inhibit ephrin-A5 binding to EphA4 with K i values of 7 and 9 M in enzyme-linked immunosorbent assays. Interestingly, despite the ability of each ephrin ligand to promiscuously bind many Eph receptors, the two compounds selectively target EphA4 and the closely related EphA2 receptor. The compounds also inhibit ephrin-induced phosphorylation of EphA4 and EphA2 in cells, without affecting cell viability or the phosphorylation of other receptor tyrosine kinases. Furthermore, the compounds inhibit EphA4-mediated growth cone collapse in retinal explants and EphA2-dependent retraction of the cell periphery in prostate cancer cells. These data demonstrate that the Eph receptor-ephrin interface can be targeted by inhibitory small molecules and suggest that the two compounds identified will be useful to discriminate the activities of EphA4 and EphA2 from those of other co-expressed Eph receptors that are activated by the same ephrin ligands. Furthermore, the newly identified inhibitors represent possible leads for the development of therapies to treat pathologies in which EphA4 and EphA2 are involved, including nerve injuries and cancer.

The efficacy of anti-cancer drugs is often limited by their systemic toxicities and adverse side effects. We report that the EphA2 receptor is over-expressed preferentially in several human cancer cell lines compared to normal tissues and that an EphA2 targeting peptide (YSAYPDSVPMMS) can be effective in delivering anti-cancer agents to such tumors. Hence, we report on the synthesis and characterizations of a novel EphA2-targeting agent conjugated with the chemotherapeutic drug paclitaxel. We found that the peptide-drug conjugate is dramatically more effective than paclitaxel alone at inhibiting tumor growth in a prostate cancer xenograft model, delivering significantly higher levels of drug to the tumor site. We believe these studies open the way to the development of a new class of therapeutic compounds that exploit the EphA2 receptor for drug delivery to cancer cells.

SUMMARY Fragment-based ligand design (FBLD) approaches have become more widely used in drug discovery projects from both academia and industry, and are even often preferred to traditional high-throughput screening (HTS) of large collection of compounds (>105). A key advantage of FBLD approaches is that these often rely on robust biophysical methods such as NMR spectroscopy for detection of ligand binding, hence are less prone to artifacts that too often plague the results from HTS campaigns. In this article, we introduce a screening strategy that takes advantage of both the robustness of protein NMR spectroscopy as the detection method, and the basic principles of combinatorial chemistry to enable the screening of large libraries of fragments (>105 compounds) preassembled on a common backbone. We used the method to identify compounds that target protein-protein interactions.

EphA and EphB receptors preferentially bind ephrin-A and ephrin-B ligands, respectively, but EphA4 is exceptional for its ability to bind all ephrins. Here, we report the crystal structure of the EphA4 ligand-binding domain in complex with ephrin-B2, which represents the first structure of an EphA-ephrin-B interclass complex. A loose fit of the ephrin-B2 G-H loop in the EphA4 ligand-binding channel is consistent with a relatively weak binding affinity. Additional surface contacts also exist between EphA4 residues Gln 12 and Glu 14 and ephrin-B2. Mutation of Gln 12 and Glu 14 does not cause significant structural changes in EphA4 or changes in its affinity for ephrin-A ligands. However, the EphA4 mutant has ϳ10-fold reduced affinity for ephrin-B ligands, indicating that the surface contacts are critical for interclass but not intraclass ephrin binding. Thus, EphA4 uses different strategies to bind ephrin-A or ephrin-B ligands and achieve binding promiscuity. NMR characterization also suggests that the contacts of Gln 12 and Glu 14 with ephrin-B2 induce dynamic changes throughout the whole EphA4 ligand-binding domain. Our findings shed light on the distinctive features that enable the remarkable ligand binding promiscuity of EphA4 and suggest that diverse strategies are needed to effectively disrupt different Eph-ephrin complexes.The Eph receptors represent the largest family of tyrosine kinases, with 16 members divided into two classes, EphA and EphB. This subdivision is based on sequence conservation and binding preferences for their ligands, the ephrins, which are also divided into A and B classes. There are 10 EphA and 6 EphB receptors in mammals and chick, which can bind to six glycosylphosphatidylinositol-anchored ephrin-A ligands or three transmembrane ephrin-B ligands to mediate an extremely wide spectrum of biological responses through signals that are generated by both receptor and ligand activation (1, 2).All of the Eph receptors share the same modular structure, which comprises a juxtamembrane region, a tyrosine kinase domain, a C-terminal sterile ␣-motif domain, and a PDZbinding motif in the intracellular region. In the extracellular portion, there are an N-terminal ligand-binding domain, a cysteine-rich region, and two fibronectin type III repeats. The ephrin-binding domain is responsible for ligand recognition and is composed of 11 antiparallel ␤-strands organized in a jellyroll ␤-sandwich architecture, which is conserved among EphA and EphB receptors (3-8). The ectodomain of the ephrins is also conserved and consists of an eight-stranded ␤-barrel with a Greek key topology, including several large and highly conserved functional loops, such as the G-H and C-D loops (4,5,8,9), which are very flexible in solution (10).The formation of a complex between an Eph receptor and an ephrin is centered around the insertion of the solventexposed ephrin G-H loop into the Eph receptor hydrophobic channel formed by the convex sheet of four ␤-strands together with the D-E, J-K, and G-H loops. These interactions are...

The Eph receptors are a large family of receptor tyrosine kinases. Their kinase activity and downstream signaling ability are stimulated by the binding of cell surface-associated ligands, the ephrins. The ensuing signals are bidirectional because the ephrins can also transduce signals (known as reverse signals) following their interaction with Eph receptors. The ephrin-binding pocket in the extracellular N-terminal domain of the Eph receptors and the ATP-binding pocket in the intracellular kinase domain represent potential binding sites for peptides and small molecules. Indeed, a number of peptides and chemical compounds that target Eph receptors and inhibit ephrin binding or kinase activity have been identified. These molecules show promise as probes to study Eph receptor/ephrin biology, as lead compounds for drug development, and as targeting agents to deliver drugs or imaging agents to tumors. Current challenges are to find (1) small molecules that inhibit Eph receptor-ephrin interactions with high binding affinity and good lead-like properties and (2) selective kinase inhibitors that preferentially target the Eph receptor family or subsets of Eph receptors. Strategies that could also be explored include targeting additional Eph receptor interfaces and the ephrin ligands.

Purpose YSA is an EphA2-targeting peptide that effectively delivers anti-cancer agents to prostate cancer tumors (1). Here, we report on how we increased the drug-like properties of this delivery system. Experimental Design By introducing non-natural amino acids, we have designed two new EphA2 targeting peptides: YNH, where norleucine and homoserine replace the two methionine residues of YSA, and dYNH, where a D-tyrosine replaces the L-tyrosine at the first position of the YNH peptide. We describe the details of the synthesis of YNH and dYNH paclitaxel conjugates (YNH-PTX and dYNH-PTX) and their characterization in cells and in vivo. Results dYNH-PTX showed improved stability in mouse serum and significantly reduced tumor size in a prostate cancer xenograft model and also reduced tumor vasculature in a syngeneic orthotopic allograft mouse model of renal cancer compared to vehicle or paclitaxel treatments. Conclusion This study reveals that targeting EphA2 with dYNH drug conjugates could represent an effective way to deliver anti-cancer agents to a variety of tumor types. Translational Relevance Overexpression of the EphA2 positively correlates with tumor malignancy and poor prognosis. For this reason, EphA2 is an attractive target for cancer cell specific drug delivery. In this study, we report on the development of dYNH, an EphA2 targeting peptide that when coupled to paclitaxel (PTX) has favorable pharmacological properties and possesses powerful anti-tumor activity in vivo. dYNH-PTX may allow for an expanded therapeutic index of paclitaxel as well as precluding the need for complex formulations and long infusion times.

The EphA2 receptor plays multiple roles in cancer through two distinct signaling mechanisms. In a novel cross-talk, the β2-adrenoceptor/cAMP/PKA axis can promote EphA2 pro-oncogenic, ligand-independent signaling, blocking cell repulsion induced by ligand-dependent signaling. PKA emerges as a third kinase, besides AKT and RSK, that can regulate EphA2.